Envy Is Not Your Thing, Levy
by DemonClowSorceress
Summary: Levy's feeling a little bite from the Green-Eyed Monster. Gajeel arrives to allay her fears in his own brusque way. Rated T for his potty mouth.


**I'm on a great Fairy Tail kick now! Here's a little LevyxGajeel that I thought was adorable. Stay tuned for another update for my GrayxJuvia story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Fairy Tail _or any of the characters.**

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><p>Levy McGarden didn't really do the whole jealous thing.<p>

But sometimes, she really couldn't help herself.

Taking a glance around the rambunctious hall of Fairy Tail, her brown eyes alighted on several of her fellow female mages. Lucy, sitting with Natsu and laughing as he pouted about something. Juvia, hearts in her eyes as she watched Gray. Cana, gulping from her fifth giant barrel of alcohol that day. Mirajane, serving drinks with a demure smile as she listened to the latest gossip. Lisanna, sitting with her brother Elfman and giggling at a (undoubtedly manly) joke. Evergreen, fanning herself as her cold eyes stayed on the male Take Over mage. Erza, eating a slice of cake with her customary gusto. Wendy, playing a game with Happy as Charle and Pantherlily watched with amusement in their eyes.

So much beauty and talent in one room, no wonder Levy sometimes felt that she was lost among them.

She sighed and gathered up her books, retreating to the second floor and the meager bit of solitude it afforded. Selecting a table by the railing, she sat down and looked down at her guildmates from above. She loved them dearly; there was no question about that. But Levy sometimes felt very small next to some of her more accomplished female friends.

How could she not?

Easily the most impressive were Erza and Mirajane; the first, a renowned Re-quip mage known to all as Titania, and the second a famous Take Over mage known for her Take Over: Satan Soul, called the Demon. Cana came right up there with them, a newly-minted S-Class mage endowed with Fairy Glitter, one of the three strongest spells in Fairy Tail, and the daughter of Gildarts himself. All three were incredibly strong and incredibly beautiful, easily drawing the eyes and hearts of many a man across Fiore. Lucy wasn't that far behind them, a Celestial Spirit mage who possessed ten of the twelve Golden Keys of the Zodiac and a knockout body that left men drooling in her wake. Juvia was a strong and confident water mage, while Evergreen had her incredible power of turning things to stone with her eyes. Neither wasn't that bad to look at either. Even Lisanna and Wendy were envious. Lisanna, returned from Edolas, was a Take Over mage of the same caliber as her siblings. And Wendy was the Sky Dragonslayer, trained in the ancient magicks of dragons. Just like -

"Oy, Shorty."

Levy yelped in fright. Whirling around, she delivered an ineffectual slap to the towering black-clad figure that had appeared at her back. "Jeez Gajeel, don't do that!"

"What?" he said, his grin razor-sharp and full of snark. "Use my crafty abilities to sneak up on you? S'not my fault you're gaping like a fish at nothing."

"I thought you weren't coming back until next week," she said. Her eyes unconsciously checked to see if he was visibly injured.

Gajeel shrugged carelessly. "Assholes were weak shits, so I didn't bother with anything fancy. Got the reward and hopped the first train back." Plopping down on the bench next to her, he patted her head with a grin. "So, you keep out of trouble while I was gone?"

Levy rolled her eyes. "Yes, smartass. Remarkably, I was able to keep out of trouble, just as I did before you ever got here."

"But now I'm here. I swear, you're like a magnet for trouble when you strike out on your own."

"Am not!"

He scoffed. "You always need me to save your ass."

"It's only happened twice!"

"Still happened, didn't it? You weren't strong enough to fight back."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounded like." When the words left his mouth, the Iron Dragonslayer was shocked to see tears starting to drip from the tiny girl's eyes. "Wait, what the fuck's wrong with you?"

"S-So you're s-saying th-that I'm w-w-weak," she choked out.

He blinked, confusion making his scowl more prominent. "Wait, what? Weak? No, I didn't say that - "

"That's what you meant, isn't it?" she sobbed. "I know I'm weak, and tiny. I know the other girls are way more powerful mages, and better-looking too. You'd have rather been partnered with one of them, right?"

His confusion was fast turning into irritated confusion. "Where's this coming from?"

Levy bit her lip and turned away. She could feel her face heat up with a blush as more tears fell down her cheeks. Jealousy was rare for her to have, but it reared its ugly green head now and gave her a deadly bite. How could he sit there and not see what she saw? That she was tiny, and weak, and plain. She wasn't a Titania, or a Demon, or a buxom cover girl, or even powerful like the Dragonslayers. She was just a little girl who had an obsession with languages, reading, and literally embodied the saying, "The pen is mighter than the sword."

"I - I'm not strong," she said in a small voice. "I'm not pretty, or strong, or tough, or even special. Not like Erza, or Lucy, or Mira, or Cana, or Evergreen, or Juvia, or even Wendy. They're way stronger than me." She sniffled as another tear tracked its way down her wet cheek. "I'm just a bookworm who can make my words reality."

And that was her biggest fear. Not that she wasn't as pretty as the others, or as strong, or even as powerful. Fear that he'd leave her and partner with another female mage because she was too weak to stand on equal ground with him. She didn't want to lose him to another girl.

Gajeel regarded her quietly. His scowl had slipped away, replaced with a pensive expression and eyes that seemed to penetrate to her very soul. He was silent for so long that Levy thought he was about to get up and walk away. And who could blame him? If she was someone like him, she definitely wouldn't stay with a weakling like her. She'd pick one of the other, stronger girls without a second thou -

"So what?"

She blinked at his grunt. "Wha?" she replied eloquently.

"I said, so what?" That razor grin was back, but tempered with something else that was a little softer and warmer. Levy noticed that she was the only person in Fairy Tail that ever saw that grin. "So what if that's true? Which, by the way, it's not, idiot."

Levy was still reeling from his nonchalance that the insult flew over her blue head. "What?"

He rolled his eyes. Bending over so that they were eye level, he spoke as if teaching a slow child. "Levy, I picked you. I picked you as my partner, not the other way around. And I picked you because, to me, you're the best choice for me out of all those other chicks."

The unexpected compliment further shorted out her ability to speak. "Wha - I - you - wha?"

"Geez, do I have to spell this out?" Gajeel grumbled. He picked her up, ignoring her squeak of protest, and sat her down to face him and straddle his lap, his hands on her hips to keep her still. Levy's cheeks burned bright red at her sudden proximity to his body. "Oh stop it, I'm not gonna try any shit like that here."

She kept sputtering, trying to make sense of the Iron Dragonslayer's actions. He silenced her with a stare. "Now listen up and listen good, bookworm. There's a good couple reasons why I'm with you and not those other chicks. Wanna hear them?" She nodded, still speechless. "Okay, now don't interrupt. Titania and Barmaid can take care of themselves, and they're hella strong, so they're always gonna be opponents for me. Bunny Chick's an annoying loud blonde, and I pity Salamander for putting up with that yapping all day, I don't know why he likes her. Juvia's head over heels for the ice stripper, and that's fucking annoying on the rare minutes I do hang with her. That alcoholic chick's got a great body, sure, but she stinks half the time from how much booze she drinks, plus with that Fairy Glitter spell, she's firmly in the opponent catagory. That stone-eye woman is definitely an opponent, and she knows it. And Wendy's like my kid sister, she's not really that impressive yet and I don't have the patience to teach her what she can't learn."

Levy was stunned. She'd never heard Gajeel explain himself at length. In fact, this might've been the most he'd ever said at one time. Or in a week.

"You're different. You're not super-strong, which means I don't have the urge to kick your ass every twenty minutes. You're not weak either, which also means I don't have to _save_ your ass every twenty minutes." He grinned. "You're not stuck-up, but you're not a pushover either. You're small, sure, but small things are harder to hit and catch, which means you can avoid a lot of things in a fight. You're also quick, which means you learn fast and well. As for the pretty thing, those other chicks aren't my type."

She felt like her heart stopped, pausing to hear what else he'd admit. When nothing seeemed forthcoming, she dared to ask, in a whisper that he still managed to hear above the din downstairs, "What is?"

Gajeel tilted his head to the side, giving her a glance that sent heat straight to her belly. "What do you think, Shorty?" he said. A light went off in his eyes, and he glanced down to start rummaging through his pockets. "Wait a second."

Levy sucked in a breath as fast as possible, trying to recover from the stare he'd just given her. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before. Never looked at her like she was made of something precious, even special.

"Stick out your hand." She obeyed. Gajeel's hand completely swallowed hers, and she felt something hard press into her palm. He closed her hand over the object and drew back. "Here's a hint."

Still holding her breath, Levy looked at the small object. It was a small metal ring, delicate and beautiful, carved in the shape of a mighty dragon that curled around in a protective circle. It was regal, it was powerful - and it was perfectly sized for Levy's small finger.

"Took me for-fucking-ever to get it right," Gajeel grumbled, pressing his forehead against hers. "Better be grateful. I don't make shit like that from scratch for anyone."

_From scratch. _He'd made this from his own iron. The solid script mage sniffed again, holding in her happy tears as she heaved a great sigh. "Gajeel Redfox, you're an insufferable, infuriating, incorrigible, incredibly irritating idiot." But she couldn't help the smile that tugged at her mouth as she slipped the ring onto her ring finger.

"I love it when you use big words." His large arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her gently against him, her head resting on his shoulder as she curled up against his chest. "God, I missed you, Shorty."

Levy looked up at him and smiled contently. "I missed you too, Gajeel."

"Damn straight you did." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Next time, you're coming with me. It's fucking stupid being apart this long."

She giggled. "All right, I'll come with you next time. Stop whining like a fucking baby," she teased playfully.

A low growl rippled through Gajeel's body. "God, I love it when you swear."

"Damn straight you do."

Levy McGarden really didn't do the jealous thing. Why would she? Sure, her fellow gal pals in the guild may be bustier, prettier, stronger, or an insane combination of the three, but she had the one thing they would never have, ever.

They'd never have the heart of the Iron Dragonslayer.

And that was enough for her.

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><p><strong>Review please! I love them dearly!<strong>


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